Everyone loves a good news story and the birth of royal twins will still be special despite William and Kate. People can gobble up plenty of good news whether it is a birth or an up coming wedding. I feel excited for Mary as the twins will be an emotional and exciting time, and then six or so months down the track she will attend a really special event as only a grand British royal heir wedding can be. To be in a cathedral with so many royals and Heads of state and all those Arab leaders will be quite something. I know she has experienced many times this sort of thing but it has always been on a smaller scale. I bet the yacht crew will be delighted to have the twins on board if they chose to use the Dannebrog for the occasion.
We as spectators have much to look forward to with the birth of the twins and two royal weddings within about 7 months. It will be a nice change from the doom and gloom we face on the news most nights.

It can't get any bigger than a wedding thrown by the BRF. I can't wait to see what dress Mary will wear and the jewels. She rarely disappoints.

I hardly think William and Kate plus Albert and Charlene discussed announcing their engagements to take the spotlight away from the Crown Prince Couple expecting twins.
If the Denmark Royals attend the BRF wedding, and they will, I expect the attire will be day attire and not gowns/tiaras since I'm thinking it will be in the morning or early afternoon. The twins, if allowed to go along which I'm sure they will, will be another bright spot in the celebrations.

Does everyone expect the Scandinavian royal houses to turn up in England in 'full force' at the wedding - I mean both kings, queens and CP couples?
The British royals certainly do not appear 'in full force' at throne follower weddings in other European royal families. I would personally be OK with having Joachim and Marie representing Denmark (don't kill me, I do know that a lot of people consider the british royalty to be in a league of their own, but still )

__________________Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well.

Joachim and Marie are probably a likely choice, though I'd imagine any of them could attend or shall be invited. I'd prefer to see Frederik and Mary attend but that's only because I follow them the closest of all European royals. Any excuse to see the Crown Princess dressed to the nines

With regards to the British way of doing weddings with a future to the throne, in the past they have always invited the senior royals from every house, then the Crown Prince couples. For instance the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and his heir Guillaume will be invited. All the Commonwealth Heads of State will be invited including the Governor Generals who are the Queens representatives in those countries.
If I remember correctly at Diana's wedding the press had some fun with a pic of the King of Tonga [who was a very very large man & was sitting in an open carriage with a tiny man from somewhere. The caption read - Who is that sitting opposite the King of Tonga? answer- lunch.
The queen prefers seniority in these circumstances. At any rate it will be a great event for the european royal couples to catch up again. At this stage I don't know whether it would be full tiara or hats for the day. And by then Mary will probably have her figure nearly back to normal.
Her choice of outfit will be interesting. Can you see milliners and designers everywhere rubbing there hands together in glee.

I'd personally love you to, but of course Mary will take this fantastic opportunity to promote a Danish designer to an audience of a billion.

Given that Mary is the wife of the heir, and not the second in line, there may be a surprise; there's no obligation to invite Frederik and Mary protocol-wise (they're of a different generation in the sense that Frederik and Charles are the first in line). If invitation numbers can stretch, it could well be that Marie - being that bit younger - is invited along with Queen Margrethe and Henrik. It's unlikely that there will be many reps from the Danish royals though - there will be many, many home-grown obligations to look after. Particularly as the timing for the wedding is being touted as an opportunity to light up domestic economic gloom. I wouldn't be surprised if the Danish royal party is just a party of two. There's no evidence of a personal relationship between Frederik and Mary and anyone in the British royal family. Interestingly, because of his academic interest in royal history, I believe Joachim is closer to at least junior (in the status not age sense) members of the BRF than Frederik.

I'd personally love you to, but of course Mary will take this fantastic opportunity to promote a Danish designer to an audience of a billion.

Given that Mary is the wife of the heir, and not the second in line, there may be a surprise; there's no obligation to invite Frederik and Mary protocol-wise (they're of a different generation in the sense that Frederik and Charles are the first in line). If invitation numbers can stretch, it could well be that Marie - being that bit younger - is invited along with Queen Margrethe and Henrik. It's unlikely that there will be many reps from the Danish royals though - there will be many, many home-grown obligations to look after. Particularly as the timing for the wedding is being touted as an opportunity to light up domestic economic gloom. I wouldn't be surprised if the Danish royal party is just a party of two. There's no evidence of a personal relationship between Frederik and Mary and anyone in the British royal family. Interestingly, because of his academic interest in royal history, I believe Joachim is closer to at least junior (in the status not age sense) members of the BRF than Frederik.

Joachim is in fact also closer as an aquintance to the BRF than M&F, who as you point out, doesn't have any particuar affiliation with members of the BRF.

However according to the press in DK, it's practically a given thing that the Regent Couple and M&F will attend. This being a future CP wedding.
The question is whether Benedikte, J&M or neither of them will attend as well.
Someone will have to stay back as Regent anyway.

Well...I can understand the invitation to Prince Charles' birthday as he is the Prince of Wales and the heir just like CP Frederik is. William is the heir of the heir and a lot younger. Also, there is Prince Albert's wedding next year as well and he is a head of state. I can imagined that the CP Couple will attend Prince Albert's wedding while Joachim & Marie can attend Prince William's. Of course, is can also be vice versa (i.e. Joachim & Marie attends Prince Albert's wedding, given that Marie is french born, while CP Frederik & CP Mary attend William's wedding - Mary's parents were Scots). Regardless, time will tell if the CP Couple of Denmark will attend both weddings next year.

I hardly think William and Kate plus Albert and Charlene discussed announcing their engagements to take the spotlight away from the Crown Prince Couple expecting twins.
If the Denmark Royals attend the BRF wedding, and they will, I expect the attire will be day attire and not gowns/tiaras since I'm thinking it will be in the morning or early afternoon. The twins, if allowed to go along which I'm sure they will, will be another bright spot in the celebrations.

But does it really matter if the Crown Princely Couple is not in the spotlight for expecting twins ? The are after all the future Head of State of a European country and his wife not celebrities not need the spotlight.As for the twins I think their parents might be reluctant to take them along if they go after all - they would only be a few months old and they might be afraid that the trip will make them tired or that they will get sick perhaps (I do not have children yet so I might be talking 100% nonsense right now)

I think invitations go out to the DRF as a whole. Then the DRF replies who will attend. It is very possible that, say, F&M will be occupied and J&M attends instead along with the RC - or any combination thereof.

Frederik recenly spent three days in Athens taking parts in meetings and dinners and other activities in connection with the International Sailsports Union, ISAF. Partly in his capacity as a member of ISAF but also as a member of IOC.

Frederik is in favour of renewal within sailsports, including the idea of again introducing crews consiting of both men and women. That topic was discussed and so was which classes of boats that are to take part in the Olympics.

However, he also dealt with his family life.

Q: What are his thoughts now, with Christmas in a new home coming up and the birth of twins?
Frederik replied: "It's great. Now you are entering a good and exciting phase. The decisively final phase..." and added that eventhough they are not just sitting around waiting but also have plenty of other activities, he is not keen on going far away from now on. To say Australia USA. He will stay close in this final period.

Q: What are his thoughts about opening a new chapter in his life, regarding moving in in a new home and having more children?
Frederik replied: "It's fun and it certainly keeps me young. It's fantastic that the good faith has decided (**) that you should have two and not one child here very soon. That's what's right now the big drive in my life".
The moving into a new home is more coincidental and secondary.

Q: Do you feel happier than ever before?
F: "You might say that. I'm certainly delighted over the present and that the really good times are coming with a doubling of the number of children". He ends with a saying meaning that good times that are now in the past are not lost.

Q: Not knowing when the twins will arrive does he look forward to Christmas this year more excited than usual?
F: "We must concentrate on Christian and Isabella. It's most fun to watch them and how Christmas is for them. The first two Christmas Eves are the cheapest, because then the children don't comprehend what Christmas is. But now they have really figured out what Christmas Eve means and that it's the time presents. As to the two new ones and that they might arrive a little ahead of schedule, we'll just have to see what happens. We should probably just take one day at a time. But we won't really think about that until January".

(*) Ulrik Ulriksen can sometimes write somewhat "colorful" articles but he is a competent interviewer, who in contrast to many other interviewers ask relevant questions.

(**) Frederik is a Christian and typical of the Danes, he does not say "God" but instead refer to something more general. Referring directly to God, would in the eyes of many Danes, including myself, be considered corny and presumptious. - As if God hasn't got better things to do, than dealing with your petty issues. It may have something to do with the basically more austere interpretation of religion in the Lutheran version of Protestantism.

I think among Royal Watchers, the twins birth will definitely be an event..but amongst the world and media at large, the engagement and wedding of W&K will rule the magazines and web. No question.

I mean realistically, a very small percentage of the world know who the monarch in Denmark is--let alone Mary and that she is having twins. I mean when Angelina Jolie had twins--that seemed to be on every English speaking mag and beyond. Just putting perspective on the big picture.

I read W&K are hoping for a March date..which would only put Mary 3 months after the birth of twins. They might try to attend, but depending on how the birth goes...it would be tough.